Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Peanut Butter Cookies

When I was small, I was often sent to school with a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. In Australia, PB&J is not nearly as common as just plain old PB. The thing with peanut butter sandwiches, was that they somewhat easy to get sick of. Or maybe that's just being a kid. In any case, peanut butter sandwich lunches came to me in the same way as all the other lunches I got: in bursts.

Day 1, Mum would supply a peanut butter sandwich. It would taste sensational. For some reason, I would always forget how good they tasted. Day 2, continue to revel in the awesomeness that is PB. Day 4, starting to get a bit bored of PB, and is the bread a little stale? Day 6, please...please...no more PB. By this point, I'd have probably complained to my Mum about it, and the next day, magically, lunch would be different. Maybe ham, maybe roast beef, maybe turkey (if I was very lucky). And so the cycle would continue.

As an adult, I eat less peanut butter these days. Somehow, though, it taste better than it used to. And it was only this year that I began to really, really appreciate the stuff. The chief contributor to my new found affection is none other than Costco. How I now love peanut butter. And how I love Costco.

You see, Costco opened its massive warehouse doors for the first time in Australia last year. I was instantly a member. My second trip there, we came back with four 1.5kg bags of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (Mini). And so the obsession began.

It was during this mad PB craze that I was searching for more ways to use my giant, industrial, Costco sized jar of peanut butter. I stumbled upon these peanut butter cookies. Now, for those of you who don't know, I've been toying with the idea of making Chinese peanut or almond cookies for some time now. This seemed like a good avenue to explore. I was not mistaken. They were yummy. And they disappeared quickly (speed of vanishing is how I judge my baking).

3/4 cup butter*
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup peanut butter**
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
*I often use salted butter for baking cookies, simply because I like the taste, feel free to use reduced salt or unsalted if you prefer.
**I have tried this recipe with both smooth and crunchy peanut butter, and they both work very well. If you opt to go the crunchy way, make it an extra generous 3/4 cup.

Preheat oven to 170°C line a cookie sheet with baking paper.

Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the peanut butter. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients and beat to combine.

Roll the batter into 1 inch balls and place on lined cookie sheet, squashing them a little flatter as you do. Then, using a fork, press into each cookie twice, making the checkered pattern you see above.